MY EXPERIENCE OF EXCHANGE IN ALICANTE

I remember from the first year that I entered the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires to study a Bachelor of Advertising, a career that caught me during the first two years, today I am a few subjects from being a graduate and something made me change radically: the exchange .

In my second year, I heard about the possibilities offered to study in different countries. Without thinking twice and without consulting anyone, I appeared one day at the International Directorate of the University, "I want to go" that was clear to me.

He didn't know how, what to do. But I wanted to go to Barcelona to study for a while. Due to a question of my roots, that was the city that I longed for and wanted to live this experience for myself.

My expectations fell with the first setback, they told me that Barcelona did not have offers to study advertising, so they offered me to go to Madrid. Maybe it wasn't what I was looking for, but I wasn't going to deny it. Also, Madrid is a city with a rhythm like Buenos Aires, "it won't be difficult to adapt," I thought.

Once again decided, they told me that Madrid was no longer an option, that I should look for other alternatives within Spain. As unfortunate as it sounds, today I am grateful because if it weren't for all that I would never have known ALICANTE, which for me was a totally unknown place. I just had to google it and just by looking at photos of the city and its beaches, it convinced me. Madrid had totally disappeared. And I do not regret ...

In matters of procedures and documentation, I did not have any complications, in each case the Universities act in different ways, mine cooperated a lot and gave me a lot of help.

But the months leading up to the trip were one of sheer chaos and anxiety. At times I did not realize that I was going to live a few months away from home, without knowing what I was going to find and without knowing anyone.

A few days into the trip, the closer I got, the less I realized, I didn't fall. I prepared the suitcase for 6 months in a totally natural way, as if I were going on vacation. On the morning of August 20, my family said goodbye to me at the Ezeiza International Airport. I still didn't feel it. But once I got on the plane I understood that the adventure was beginning, at times I felt fear, I asked myself: What am I doing? and a few tears also escaped me, but my heart exploded with happiness.

After a brief stopover in Madrid, I arrived in Alicante, with midsummer weather. This city on the Mediterranean became my home for 6 months, where I managed to settle down and fully adapt, I managed to connect with the University, with the city and with the people.

I could talk at length about Alicante, the city, everything it offers, but in this post I am going to focus precisely on my exchange on some data for those who plan to study there. (Of course there will be more information)

Although I went on a student exchange, I think everything was an excuse for what I wanted the most: traveling, seeing new places, new people, getting to know myself, living this experience alone, disconnecting from the routine and leaving my comfort zone . But I also went to classes, I don't want to say no, at the University of Alicante, which is also a huge campus that offers a lot of daily activities, courses and sports (I joined the hockey team).

The first month I lived in a residence in front of the UA, I had hired it from the internet before traveling. Villa Universitaria, although it is pleasant and very well located, I do not recommend it, I do not recommend the residences. It was my only mistake. For starters, the rooms are very expensive and the only benefit is being able to walk to the University.

As time went by, I was meeting people from all over, locals and other students like me who were on exchange. That was how soon after I met a girl and a boy from Mendoza, Argentina who lived together. It was the first with whom I hit the wave, then in my same situation I met a boy from Peru. I lived the rest of my exchange with them three, we shared an apartment located between the center of Alicante and the University, we couldn't be better, and the coexistence was really good.

Life as ERASMUS (as exchange students are called in Europe) was based on the first months taking advantage of what was left of summer, eternal afternoons at Postiguet Beach, together with new friends from countries such as Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Chile , France, and more. The outings through El Barrio or the Port, with many shots and sangria (accompanied by innumerable hangovers) and of course, THE TRIPS.

Alicante, I fell in love. Its pace is very calm and its cost of living is very accessible. I had found my place, it was the first time that I felt adapted in a place that was not mine but I felt that I only wanted to be there, so when I realized that everything was ending, through tears I communicated to my parents my wishes to.